T&T may have a ‘few’ cases of local spread, CMO reveals

Trinidad and Tobago has not gotten to the stage of community spread as yet, but may have a 'few' COVID-19 cases of local spread.

The majority of cases are imported.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram made the revelation while speaking at a media conference on Monday, to update the public on COVID-19.

Parasram said the time has come for citizens to behave as if everyone is positive for the COVID-19 virus.

"The next phase of the epidemic is usually, low volume local spread and over the last 24 hours we have received two cases, one in Tobago and one in Trinidad," he said.

However, he noted that T&T does not have community spread at this time.

"I believe, we may have a couple, if not a few more local cases over the next few days...We have not gotten to the stage of community spread, but we are seeing a first few cases of local spread, which is normally part of the epidemic evolution," he said.

Parasram explained that local spread is expected just after importation, while community spread means a large number of local cases spreading among a large segment of the population.

The CMO also gave an update on the country's COVID-19 cases.

He said at the Couva Hospital, there are three patients at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), two of which are stable and one critical.

Fourteen, he said are at the High Dependency Unit and are all stable, while 48 are ambulatory cases.

And, as for the patients at the Caura Hospital, Parasram revealed that five are ambulatory cases and all are stable.

He said the Caura Hospital is also being utilised as a Holding Bay for persons awaiting test results.

As of Monday morning, T&T recorded four more COVID-19 cases, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 82.

Three deaths have been recorded and one person has been discharged.

As for the four new cases, the Ministry of Health revealed that the first confirmed case was a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

The second and third confirmed cases were in close contact with someone with a recent travel history, while the fourth case is pending epidemiological investigation.

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